Secret spaces: Whisky and Alement has a club-like feeling.

Elissa McCallum

With the zeal of stormchasers, Melburnians hunt down the city's secret tables. The cat-and-mouse game between the food and drink industry and its clientele is a win-win. Word-of-mouth marketing works.

The secret table is part of a global trend. In London, the Soho sex shop is neon-lit, but the restaurant hiding beneath it is only whispered about. In New York, a prohibition-era cellar still hides its stash, requiring customers to pass through a fake wall.

Somewhere underground in Spring Street, there's a table for hire where you can watch a cheesemonger toil over his plump yellow wheels with parental devotion.

Somewhere in Carlton, there's a table where you can blend into the atmosphere of a wine cellar.

A thrill of discovery marks descent into this 100-year-old cellar. Narrow windows are barred like a dungeon's. Walls of massive bluestone bricks seem to close in on you. By candlelight, wine bottles are dark with promise. A heavy rosewood table, surrounded by chairs upholstered in brocade and leather, is set for dinner.

''People are excited to share this secret room with their friends,'' says owner Jay Bessell. Guests meet upstairs, before descending to the cellar, which can seat up to 18. ''It used to be about laneways. Now, it has to be even more hidden,'' he says.

''People want an experience where they can say, 'Guess what I've found!' before anyone else does.''

Next to a table set with white linen and fresh flowers is a larder stacked with cheese, overseen by Anthony Femia, who placed fourth in the World Contest of the Best Cheesemonger Competition in France last year.

Femia's cave is hidden to all but those in the know.

''The usual comment is, 'Wow, how come I didn't know about this?' We like that reaction. Our marketing is word of mouth. That's the magic.''

Hiring a table for a cheese tasting at Spring Street Cheese Cellar, through the European restaurant nearby, offers the chance to hear his poetic description of how his favourite Swiss Alpine cheese is created.

''Historic, romantic, the hard life the farmers lead as they leave their families and lead a herd of cows up a mountain. The cheese is rich, savoury. You taste the milk and you taste the summer.''

If you love a drop of Scotch, there's whisky business going down in Russell Street.

From the street, you can't see inside. The blind is always drawn. Opening the door reveals nothing but a black curtain.

Whisky and Alement deliberately hides from passing pedestrians to protect a club-like feeling for its clientele of Scotch lovers.

These people drink their spirit neat. Similarly, says owner Brooke Hayman, the bar won't water down its atmosphere to accommodate ''people who are just walking past, looking for a bar''.

Should passers-by wander in, though, they will be welcomed and transported into the world of whisky. Soft light shines on 500 bottles, the house specialising in single-malt Scotch. Prices range from under $10 to $117 a nip. Whisky introduction classes are held every Saturday.

4 comments so far

Brings back memories. 40 years ago friends and I would frequent Giovanni's in Flinders Lane also downstairs. Good food, cosy, enjoyable.

Commenter

mary

Location

Date and time

August 01, 2014, 1:32PM

I was taken to Hihou Japanese Bar and Restaurant in Flinders Lane (near Spring Street) when I was back in Melbourne for a quick visit. Beautifully intimate bar, picturesque night time views across Spring street, great food and fabulous cocktails. Great "date" bar / restaurant.

Good luck finding it, though; entry is via an unmarked door in Flinders lane, just as you turn into it off Spring Street

Commenter

Aussie Expat

Location

Hong Kong

Date and time

August 01, 2014, 1:49PM

Not to forgot some of the deep underground nightclubs (both legal and not so legal). You wouldn't believe where some of us younger generation are raving until the early hours.

Commenter

Dr. Zaius

Location

Date and time

August 01, 2014, 4:53PM

It's difficult to go past the below ground bar under the State of Grace in Collins Street. In large part because it's behind a secret bookcase the moves aside to reveal the staircase....if you know how. There also used to be a great restaurant under the GPO.